STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK MEDIUM-TERM - South African ...
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MEDIUM-TERM STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK (MTSF) 2014-2019
Table of Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Background............................................................................................................. 4
1.2 The purpose of the MTSF ....................................................................................... 4
1.3 How the MTSF was developed ............................................................................... 5
2. Strategic focus for the next five years ............................................................................ 5
2.1 Radical economic transformation ............................................................................ 6
2.2 Improving service delivery..................................................................................... 11
3. International and local economic context ..................................................................... 13
4. Implementation of the MTSF ........................................................................................ 14
5. Monitoring implementation of the MTSF ....................................................................... 15
6. Summary of priorities and actions for the next five years ............................................. 15
6.1 Quality basic education ..................................................................................... 16
6.2 A long and healthy life for all South Africans...................................................... 17
6.3 All people in South Africa are and feel safe ....................................................... 19
6.4 Decent employment through inclusive growth ................................................... 20
6.5 A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path ................. 22
6.6 An efficient, competitive and responsive economic infrastructure network ......... 24
6.7 Vibrant, equitable, sustainable rural communities contributing towards food
security for all............................................................................................................... 25
6.8 Sustainable human settlements and improved quality of household life ............ 26
6.9 Responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government.................... 27
6.10 Protect and enhance our environmental assets and natural resources .............. 29
6.11 Create a better South Africa and contribute to a better Africa and a better world30
26.12 An efficient, effective and development-oriented public service ......................... 31
6.13 A comprehensive, responsive and sustainable social protection system ........... 34
6.14 A diverse, socially cohesive society with a common national identity................. 35
7. Appendices .................................................................................................................. 36
31. Introduction
1.1 Background
South Africa has begun a new phase of its democratic transition. The electoral mandate of
the fifth democratic government is to deepen transformation and implement the National
Development Plan (NDP). It is to accelerate growth, create decent work and promote
investment in a competitive economy. In giving effect to this mandate, we continue to be
guided by our Constitutional commitment to “improve the quality of life of all citizens and free
the potential of each person”.
Over the last 20 years, the first phase of our democratic transition, the foundations have
been laid for a non-racial, non-sexist, united and prosperous South Africa, and for a society
based on fundamental human rights, equality and unity in diversity. Our people’s dignity has
been restored. Non-racial majority rule based on one-person, one-vote has brought about
government based on the will of the people.
At the end of the last administration (2009-2014), the Presidency published a Twenty Year
Review, outlining progress made since 1994 and identifying the challenges that still need to
be overcome. Today, South Africa is a better place in which to live than it was in 1994.
Political and social rights are protected, and the lives of millions of South Africans have
improved, through new laws, better public services, expansion of economic opportunities
and improved living conditions.
However, the challenges still facing our country are immense. As the Twenty Year Review
and the National Planning Commission’s 2011 Diagnostic Report highlight – poverty,
inequality and unemployment continue to negatively affect the lives of many people. Too few
people have work, investment is too slow and education lags behind our requirements. The
weak state of the economy impedes our efforts to reach our development goals.
The second phase of our democratic transition calls for bold and decisive steps to place the
economy on a qualitatively different path that eliminates poverty, creates jobs and
sustainable livelihoods, and substantially reduces inequality. This requires radical economic
transformation and a sustained focus on addressing the uneven quality of service delivery.
1.2 The purpose of the MTSF
This Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) is Government’s strategic plan for the
2014-2019 electoral term. It reflects the commitments made in the election manifesto of the
governing party, including the commitment to implement the NDP. The MTSF sets out the
actions Government will take and targets to be achieved. It also provides a framework for the
other plans of national, provincial and local government.
The MTSF highlights Government’s support for a competitive economy, creation of decent
work opportunities and encouragement of investment. This is the first MTSF to follow the
adoption of the NDP in September 2012. The introduction of a long-term plan brings greater
4coherence and continuity to the planning system and means that the MTSF now becomes a
five year building block towards the achievement of the vision and goals of the country’s
long-term plan. In the words of President Zuma:
“The Plan has been adopted as a National Plan for the whole country. It is our roadmap
for the next 20 years. All the work we do in government is now part of the
comprehensive National Development Plan, including all operational plans, be they
social, economic or political.”
The aim of the MTSF is to ensure policy coherence, alignment and coordination across
government plans as well as alignment with budgeting processes. Performance agreements
between the President and each Minister will reflect the relevant actions, indicators and
targets set out in this MTSF.
Within the NDP vision, key policy instruments developed in the previous term will continue to
drive government’s policy agenda. These include the New Growth Path, which sets the
trajectory of economic development, the National Infrastructure Plan, which guides the roll-
out of infrastructure to improve people’s lives and enable economic growth, and the
Industrial Policy Action Plan, which focuses on promoting investment and competitiveness in
leading sectors and industries. Government will also take forward key social development
initiatives, including social security and retirement reform, National Health Insurance,
improvements in basic education and expansion of technical and vocational education.
1.3 How the MTSF was developed
Following the adoption of the NDP, Cabinet decided in 2013 that the 2014-2019 MTSF
should form the first five-year implementation phase of the NDP and mandated work to begin
on aligning the plans of national and provincial departments, municipalities and public
entities with the NDP vision and goals. Since the May 2014 elections, the MTSF has been
aligned to the national governing party’s election manifesto. The MTSF is the result of an
intensive planning process involving all three spheres of government. It provides a
framework for prioritising and sequencing government programmes and development
initiatives for the next five years.
2. Strategic focus for the next five years
The NDP provides the framework for achieving the radical socio-economic agenda set out in
the governing party’s election manifesto. It recognises the need for a capable and
developmental state, a thriving business sector and strong civil society institutions with
shared and complementary responsibilities. It identifies decent work, education and the
capacity of the state as particularly important priorities. It also highlights the need to improve
the quality of administration of many government activities.
5The 2014-2019 electoral mandate focuses on the following priorities:
• Radical economic transformation, rapid economic growth and job creation
• Rural development, land and agrarian reform and food security
• Ensuring access to adequate human settlements and quality basic services
• Improving the quality of and expanding access to education and training
• Ensuring quality health care and social security for all citizens
• Fighting corruption and crime
• Contributing to a better Africa and a better world
• Social cohesion and nation building.
In its focus on these priorities, and their elaboration into fourteen key outcomes and
associated activities and targets, the MTSF has two over-arching strategic themes – radical
economic transformation and improving service delivery.
2.1 Radical economic transformation
Government’s programme of radical economic transformation is about placing the economy
on a qualitatively different path that ensures more rapid, sustainable growth, higher
investment, increased employment, reduced inequality and deracialisation of the economy.
The NDP sets a growth target of at least 5% a year, and emphasises measures to ensure
that the benefits of growth are equitably shared.
Achievement of economic transformation and inclusive growth will not result from a single
intervention, but from a range of mutually supporting initiatives. In many cases, this does not
require new strategies, but better implementation of existing ones.
The New Growth Path targets five million new jobs from 2010 to 2020. This target will
require vigorous action to reduce concentration and diversify the economy, while ensuring
adequate infrastructure, skills and appropriate regulatory frameworks. It also requires that
the state promotes and supports new and innovative activities that can add value and
generate employment on a large scale. We need to ensure growth in the core productive
sectors of manufacturing, mining and agriculture and open new areas of economic growth
such as the oceans economy, the green economy and shale gas. Small business needs to
make a much larger contribution to growth.
More rapid private sector investment is critical for higher growth, as the private sector
accounts for 80% of production and employment. The NDP indicates that South Africa needs
to increase its level of investment to at least 25% of GDP. This requires an economic
environment that encourages business investment and rewards competitiveness, especially
in sectors that can catalyse longer term growth and job creation. Government will increase
its engagement with business to unlock private sector initiative, build investor confidence,
promote trust and seek long-term commitments to implementation of the NDP. These
engagements will be led by the Presidential Business Working Group.
6The main pillars for achieving radical economic transformation through rapid and inclusive
growth are described below.
Productive investment crowded in through the infrastructure build programme
Government is addressing infrastructure constraints through the work of the Presidential
Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC). The infrastructure investment programme
will also provide employment opportunities for women and youth, promote broad-based
black economic empowerment and support local procurement. State-owned companies will
continue to play a critical role in driving development through building and maintaining
economic infrastructure.
A key priority is to expand electricity supply. Power from the new Medupi coal-fired plant will
ease the electricity supply constraint in 2015, and long-term energy security will continue to
be a strategic focus. Government will pursue a mix of energy options including coal, nuclear,
shale gas, off-shore oil and gas and renewables, taking into account environmental,
financial, social and other considerations. The Renewable Energy Independent Power
Producers (IPP) programme will be continued, and the potential for base-load IPP projects
will be explored. Expediting the exploration of alternative energy sources in shale and
offshore gas will be a priority, both for energy supply and as a potential major source of
economic growth.
Public investments in the transport sector will open up broader growth opportunities, both
through improved urban commuter services and a substantial expansion in Transnet’s
capacity to carry freight by rail.
An additional priority is to expand, modernise and increase the affordability and accessibility
of information and communications infrastructure and electronic communication services,
including broadband and digital broadcasting. The work of all the state-owned information
technology agencies will be aligned towards these objectives.
Competitiveness enhancement in productive sectors of the economy
Through the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), support for agriculture and mining, the local
procurement drive and other programmes, Government seeks to strengthen the
competitiveness, productivity and trade performance of the core productive sectors of the
economy. New opportunities in the green economy, the ocean economy and exports of
goods and services to growing African markets will be promoted. Research and technology
development will continue to be supported through tax incentives and partnerships between
our science councils and the business sector.
Obstacles to the use of our mineral products in manufacturing will be addressed and options
to support beneficiation through mining licences will be explored. The Department of Mineral
Resources will provide increased support for exploration, development and production in
mining in ways that lay the basis for sustained growth in output going forward.
7Government departments and regulatory agencies with economic responsibilities will be
expected to respond promptly and effectively to the needs of economic stakeholders.
Economic expertise within key departments will be strengthened and engagement with
representative industry bodies will be given greater impetus.
Procurement reforms will be geared towards broad-based black economic empowerment
(BBBEE) and support for local suppliers and smallholders, in addition to obtaining better
value for money and reducing corruption. Government aims to procure at least 75% of its
goods and services from South African producers. This will build on progress already made
in identifying products and components that are currently imported but which could be
produced competitively locally if there is predictable demand, such as solar water heaters,
power generation equipment and rail locomotives and carriages. By the end of 2014, all
strategic infrastructure projects will have plans to crowd in productive investment through
supplier development and local procurement or by providing affordable, quality services to
investors.
Amendments will be proposed to the Competition Act to prevent monopoly pricing on
intermediate inputs such as steel and heavy chemicals, to make local manufacturing more
competitive and to support infrastructure investment. The competition authorities will be
further strengthened to act against cartels and ensure that the public interest is adequately
protected in mergers and acquisitions.
Government will also ensure that affordability for business and households is a key
consideration in the management of administered prices.
Addressing spatial imbalances in economic opportunities
A central legacy of apartheid is the persistence of dense rural settlements with limited
economic opportunities in the former “homeland” areas, which have particularly high rates of
unemployment. South Africa has a low level of agricultural employment compared both to
the size of its rural population and to the norm for middle-income economies. Government
recognises the need to improve rural infrastructure and service centres, enhance support for
smallholders and rural enterprises and address barriers to agricultural development and
better land use.
A further spatial challenge lies in the structure of urban and metropolitan areas, which are
characterised by fragmented residential settlement patterns, underdeveloped business areas
in townships and long travel times between home and work. This raises the cost of living,
limits the scope for shift work and makes it hard for the unemployed to seek work. It also
increases service delivery costs and holds back business development.
Government’s approach to urban development is therefore focused on integrated and better
located residential development, investment in public transport networks, support for
economic development and job creation and stronger collaboration between municipalities,
local business chambers and civil society stakeholders.
8Recognising the importance of industrial and trade activity in opening up opportunities for
investment and growth, special economic zones will be supported through targeted
incentives, modern infrastructure and streamlined administrative services.
Elimination of unnecessary regulatory burdens
Government recognises the need to consider the compliance burden and complexity of laws
and regulations, and the need to improve consistency and remove unnecessary obstacles to
business development. Capacity is being created in the Presidency to carry out thorough
impact assessments of both new and existing legislation and regulations, in order to ensure
alignment with the NDP and reduce the risk of unintended consequences.
Government will also streamline and improve the efficiency of regulatory processes, in areas
such as building licences, environmental impact assessments, company registration, tax
compliance, work permits for scarce skills, mining licences, water licences and access to
municipal infrastructure services.
Workers’ education and skills development to meet economic needs
Skills shortages raise economic costs and perpetuate inequalities. The poor quality of
education available to many black students has limited their opportunities to obtain
employment and thus impeded our progress in creating sufficient skills and transforming the
economy.
Government will continue with the steps that have been initiated to improve the quality of
education. This includes ensuring good discipline and accountability in schools, including
that teachers are in class, on time and teaching, and that learners are in class and learning.
Principals will be supported to maintain discipline and high standards of conduct.
Government will continue to strengthen the capacity of education district offices so that they
are able to oversee and support the running of individual schools. There will also be a focus
on upgrading school infrastructure to meet the new norms and standards.
Progress will continue to be made towards ensuring that all children have access to two
years of pre-school education, while also expanding access to other early childhood
development (ECD) opportunities. This will require improved coordination and funding
arrangements between the relevant government departments and other stakeholders in the
ECD sector.
Measures in progress to expand access to higher education and training include the
establishment of two new universities, increasing enrolment in technical and vocational
education and training (TVET) colleges and steps to improve the quality of TVET.
Government will develop the links between the different parts of the post-school training and
education system (including TVET institutions and the SETAs) and between them and the
world of work, in order to ensure that young people have better educational and economic
opportunities and that the system produces the skills required by the economy. This will be
done in partnership with industry. The efficiency and effectiveness of the administration of
post-school institutions will be improved, as well as the quality of their qualifications.
9Despite these measures, South Africa faces immediate skills shortages which are
constraining investment and growth. While measures are being put in place to develop
scarce skills, it is also necessary to encourage in-migration of skills in the short to medium-
term. Steps will be taken to ensure that the regulatory environment makes South Africa an
attractive destination for skilled people.
A macroeconomic and financial framework to support employment-creating growth
Government’s counter-cyclical fiscal stance involves saving in periods of strong economic
growth while sustaining spending in downturns, in order to support economic growth and
employment creation and maintain and expand social services.
The role of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Industrial Development
Corporation, the Land Bank, the National Housing Finance Corporation and other
development finance institutions will be strengthened to complement budgetary resource
allocations in financing industry, agriculture, infrastructure investment, diversification of the
economy and broad-based black economic empowerment.
Banks will be encouraged to broaden access to financial services to enable people to build
up their assets, small businesses to emerge and grow, and to fund growth in existing and
new sectors. Measures will be introduced to address the poor lending practices and
excessive charges in some parts of the financial sector, and make the financial sector more
inclusive and accessible. Government will continue to strengthen the regulation of financial
institutions to ensure that savings are protected and customers are treated fairly. The
Postbank will play an expanded role in banking services.
Workplace conflict reduction and improved cooperation between government,
organised business and organised labour
High levels of inequality contribute to demands for rapid wage increases, pressures on
household incomes due to the rising cost of living, dependence on the wages of those in
employment and a rising sense of frustration in communities.
Government will work with organised business and labour to stabilise the labour market by
addressing the root causes of workplace conflict in mining and elsewhere through improving
the working and living conditions of workers and improving workplace relationships. This will
include more rapid transformation of the workplace to eliminate abusive work practices,
enhancing career mobility and training, providing for pay progression, and improving
communication in the workplace.
Government will also initiate investigations into both the modality of collective bargaining in
all sectors of the economy and the introduction of a national minimum wage as a potential
mechanism to reduce income inequality. Working with the mining companies, government
will accelerate the implementation of plans to improve human settlements and promote
economic development in mining areas.
10Expanded opportunities for historically excluded and vulnerable groups, small
businesses and cooperatives
We need to ensure that historically excluded and vulnerable groups, in particular youth and
black women, have increased access to economic opportunities. Government will continue
to broaden the base of black economic empowerment, for example through promoting more
employee and community share ownership, with a particular emphasis on empowering youth
and women. There will be an emphasis on promoting black industrialists and enterprises in
the productive economy.
The new Ministry responsible for small business development will identify the institutional
and regulatory changes required to accelerate growth of the small business sector and raise
its contribution to job creation. Government will also strengthen support for cooperatives,
particularly in marketing and supply activities, to enable small scale producers to enter
formal value chains and take advantage of economies of scale.
Youth employment initiatives, including the recently introduced employment tax incentive,
will continue to be prioritised as part of a labour activation strategy targeted at vulnerable
groups. Local business incubators, industrial and retail sites, marketing agencies,
cooperative support programmes and access to finance are amongst the key measures
required to promote small enterprise growth, reduce market concentration and expand
decent work opportunities.
Public employment schemes to provide relief for the unemployed and build
community solidarity
In the context of the current high levels of unemployment, government will be scaling up the
Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWP), in particular the Community Work
Programme (CWP), to generate additional employment opportunities, provide training and
work experience and increase social cohesion. The EPWP as a whole will provide 6 million
work opportunities by 2019 and the CWP will be expanded to have at least one site in every
municipality by the end of 2014 and to provide one million work opportunities by the end of
2019.
2.2 Improving service delivery
Over the past 20 years Government has massively expanded access to basic services, but
backlogs remain and the quality of services is uneven. In addition to ensuring universal
access, the challenge is therefore to improve the quality and consistency of services, which
requires improvements in the performance of the public service, municipalities and service
providers.
Measures to improve the capacity and developmental commitment of the state will therefore
receive high priority over this MTSF period. Building state capacity is a long-term task and
many of the actions will take time to deliver results. Key priorities aimed at improving the
quality of service delivery include institutionalising long-term planning; forging a disciplined,
people-centred and professional public service; empowering citizens to play a greater role in
11development; and building an ethical public service. It will also be important to improve the
management of contracts in order to ensure effective relations with non-governmental and
private sector service providers.
The task of building a capable and developmental state requires a degree of stability in the
top levels of the bureaucracy and evidence suggests that many of the state’s best-
performing institutions are characterized by their stability of leadership. However, in many
cases this stability has been undermined by the excessively high turnover of heads of
department (HoDs). To bring greater predictability and stability to the management of the
political-administrative interface, the role of administrative head of the public service will be
established as one of the functions of the Director-General in the Presidency, with Directors-
General in the Offices of the Premiers fulfilling a similar role at provincial level. The
responsibilities of the administrative head of the public service will include running
standardised administrative-level processes to provide the President and executive
authorities with advice on managing the career incidents of heads of department. In addition,
the turnover rate of heads of department and other senior officials will be monitored by
Cabinet with a view to ensuring greater stability.
The uneven capacity of local government is a major constraint to effective and efficient
service delivery. Municipalities operate in varying socioeconomic circumstances and diverse
levels of capacity. Measures to address weaknesses in local government have to take
account of these variations. A well-considered balance has to be found between local
accountability and proactive centralised support measures. Over the MTSF period, national
and provincial departments of local government will focus on improving the quality of
targeted oversight and support available to municipalities. Local government is intended to
be the most participatory sphere of government and measures will be put in place to ensure
that communities are empowered to hold public representatives and officials accountable,
including through strengthening existing forums of people’s participation.
Government is committed to improving access to housing and basic services, including the
provision of approximately 1.5 million housing opportunities 1, the upgrading of informal
settlements, and the expansion of access to water, sanitation and electricity. Apartheid
spatial patterns impose a major cost on the economy and particularly on the poor who often
live far from places of work. There are no quick fixes for spatial transformation but careful
consideration of how and where we build infrastructure and housing could change the
trajectories of spatial development, and deliver considerable gains for ordinary citizens and
the national economy. The number of housing units in better-located mixed income projects
will therefore be increased in order to provide housing close to major centres of economic
activity. Improvements in public transport will also contribute to narrowing the spatial
divisions by making it quicker, safer and more affordable for people to access work
opportunities. There will be a focus on ensuring that municipalities provide and properly
1
“Housing opportunities” include the provision of low-cost houses by government, upgrading of informal
settlements by government, and joint projects with the private sector to provide housing in the gap market.
12maintain an adequate core set of basic services including water, sanitation, electricity,
municipal roads, refuse removal and traffic lights.
Provinces have a central role to play in improving the quality of service delivery, particularly
with regard to education, health and providing effective support to local government.
Particular attention will be given to the management of service delivery, human resource
management and financial management at provincial level. Where national and provincial or
local government have concurrent responsibilities, policy coordination, monitoring and
support for service delivery will be strengthened and relations between spheres will be
improved.
Corruption impedes service delivery, compromises development and undermines public
confidence in the state. To strengthen the fight against corruption, Government will focus on
limiting the scope for conflicts of interest by prohibiting public servants and public
representatives from doing business with the state as well as ensuring transparency in public
expenditure and contractual relations with the business sector. The capacity to investigate
and prosecute corruption cases will also be improved, from both a disciplinary and criminal
perspective. Anti-corruption legislation will need to be strengthened to provide for stiffer
penalties, protect whistle-blowers in both the public and private sector, and insulate anti-
corruption agencies from political pressure. Corruption is partly a symptom of a wider
problem relating to weak management and operations systems, which create the space for
corruption to occur. The improvement of operational management, and especially
procurement systems, will therefore play an important role in reducing the scope for
corruption.
3. International and local economic context
As we start this term of government, the global economy is slowly recovering from the 2008
financial crisis. The financial sectors in the USA and Europe came close to collapse, and
their economies went into recession. Europe, South Africa’s largest trading partner, went into
a prolonged period of economic stagnation, impacting negatively on South Africa’s exports.
While South Africa weathered the storm relatively well in maintaining financial and fiscal
stability, approximately one million jobs were lost, which were only recovered towards the
end of the previous administration.
Alongside challenges of global growth and financial stability, many countries have seen
rising inequality in recent decades, contributing to social stresses and questions about
economic sustainability. Like South Africa, much of the world is grappling with concerns
about environmentally sustainable growth, inequality and decent work opportunities.
The global recovery is still tentative and subject to a number of risks, including geo-political
tensions, deflation risks in some economies, banking sector weaknesses in the Euro-zone
and the effects of tapering of quantitative easing in the USA. Developed economies are
starting to recover but growth in several emerging markets has slowed. These conditions
present both risks and opportunities for South Africa. The slowing of the Chinese economy
has weakened the outlook for commodity prices and South Africa’s export prospects. On the
13other hand, the recovery of developed markets and the sturdy growth momentum on the
African continent present opportunities for the manufacturing and services sectors.
South Africa’s relatively low economic growth rate since 2008 and weak export performance
have undermined employment creation, weakened fiscal balances and resulted in a growing
current account imbalance. By 2013, some R200 billion of foreign savings was required to
fund the current account deficit. This dependence on external financing exposes the
economy to financial and exchange rate vulnerability, and signals the importance of an
improved trade performance as part of a sustainable growth strategy.
Since the global financial crisis, South Africa has adopted a counter-cyclical stance within a
sustainable fiscal framework. Over the longer term the NDP requires both greater
competitiveness in mining and manufacturing sectors and a more employment-intensive
growth path. This will lead to stronger tax revenues which are required to finance
progressive improvements in infrastructure and public services.
4. Implementation of the MTSF
The MTSF articulates Government’s commitment to implementing the NDP and delivering
on its electoral mandate as well as its Constitutional and statutory obligations. The priorities
identified in the MTSF are being incorporated into the plans and programmes of national and
provincial departments, municipalities and public entities.
Many priorities in the NDP are not about new policies and programmes but rather about
giving effect to existing laws and policies and improving their implementation. In these
areas, the NDP identifies the need for key stakeholders to work together to identify and
overcome the obstacles to improving performance. Policy uncertainty and organisational
instability have sometimes impeded progress. The policy consistency provided by the NDP,
and taken forward through the election manifesto of the governing party and the MTSF,
allows greater impetus to be given to implementation. It also allows new programmes,
legislation and regulations to be assessed against long-term goals and priorities.
Building the capacity of the state is a prerequisite for successful implementation of
government policies. The MTSF therefore includes measures to strengthen coordination,
accountability and performance management. It also includes measures to improve
recruitment and skills development, strengthen supply chain management and reduce the
risk of corruption.
Planning will be institutionalised in government and there will be an enhanced focus on
programme implementation, problem-solving, and continuous improvement. Innovative
approaches will be adopted where progress needs to be made to overcome obstacles and
achieve better results. For example, Government has recently started to implement
Operation Phakisa, based on the Malaysian “Big Fast Results” methodology, which involves
bringing those responsible for implementation together to carry out detailed and practical
planning, followed by disciplined and rigorous monitoring.
14The NDP is not just a plan for government, but for the whole country. Effective
implementation of both the MTSF and the NDP requires the involvement of all sectors of
society and an active citizenry. It also requires increased levels of communication and trust
between different sectors of society, and Government will play a facilitating role in this
regard.
5. Monitoring implementation of the MTSF
The focus of the previous administration on improving the performance of government
through monitoring and evaluation will be continued and broadened in the current term.
Cabinet will closely monitor the implementation of the NDP and the election manifesto,
through the detailed actions, indicators and targets contained in the annexures to the MTSF.
The MTSF also contains high-level development indicators for each outcome. These are
designed to enable Cabinet, Parliament, provincial legislatures and the public to monitor the
overall impact on society. Progress updates will be made public by the Presidency at least
three times per year.
The President will enter into a performance agreement with each Minister. These will contain
key indicators and targets from the MTSF. Regular assessments of progress, including
through performance assessments of Ministers, will be used to identify and tackle obstacles
to implementation.
Systems for performance management in the public service will be improved, including
through strengthening the human resource management function in departments, clearer
delegations and the introduction of standard administrative-level processes to provide advice
to executive authorities on the performance assessment of heads of department.
The annual performance plans of national and provincial departments for 2014-15 already
include key elements of the NDP. National and provincial departments will submit strategic
plans for the period 2015-2020 to Parliament and provincial legislatures by February 2015.
These will incorporate the relevant actions and targets in the MTSF, which will subsequently
be incorporated into future annual performance plans, which provide the vehicle for
identifying and responding to any challenges that arise during implementation. One of the
aims of this alignment of indicators and targets is to reduce the reporting burden on
government institutions.
Greater levels of operational detail, together with other areas of work that are not covered in
the MTSF, are included in the strategic plans, annual performance plans, integrated
development plans, operational plans, and programme plans of individual institutions.
Government institutions publish annual reports which provide detailed performance
information.
6. Summary of priorities and actions for the next five years
The MTSF is structured around 14 priority outcomes which cover the focus areas identified
in the NDP and Government’s electoral mandate. These are made up of the 12 outcomes
15which were the focus of the 2009-2014 administration, as well as two new outcomes (social
protection, nation-building and social cohesion). A summary of each of these 14 outcomes is
provided below. Further details of the actions and targets are set out in an appendix for each
outcome.
6.1 Quality basic education
Education plays an important role in equalising individuals’ life chances, promoting economic
mobility, advancing economic growth, creating employment, eradicating poverty and
reducing inequality. Improving the quality of education requires further improvements in early
childhood development, investment in school infrastructure and facilities, effective school
management and substantial improvements in literacy and numeracy.
The NDP’s vision for 2030 is that South Africans should have access to education and
training of the highest quality, characterised by significantly improved learning outcomes.
The NDP incorporates key targets set out in the Basic Education sector plan (Towards the
Realisation of Schooling 2025). Targets for 2030 include improved retention of learners and
improved learning outcomes. All children between ages 7 and 18 should be in school and
65% of learners should be in class groups appropriate to their age by 2019.
Currently, Grade R enrolment has reached near universal enrolment and more than 90% of
learners aged between 7 and 15 are enrolled in school. However, many learners from poor
communities drop-out of school after grade 9 and leave without a senior certificate or
alternative qualification. By 2019, 60% of each age cohort should receive either a National
Senior Certificate or an alternative vocational or further education and training qualification.
While improvements in enrolment and school completion are important, the key measures
relate to quality and learning achievements. The target for 2019 is that 75% of learners
tested through the Annual National Assessments (ANA) in Grades 3, 6 and 9 should achieve
above 50% in both literacy and numeracy. This would be a major improvement from current
ANA scores. The ANA system will also have to be improved to allow for technically sound
comparison across years. International benchmarks will continue to be used (including the
Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) and
the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)).
These targets are set against the background of some signs of a turnaround in the basic
education system. For example, retention to Grade 9 improved from 80% in 2002 to 85% in
2011 and South Africa’s performance scores in TIMMS improved from 285 to 352 over this
period (the international benchmark for learners at an intermediate level is 550 points). At
the Grade 12 level, the number qualifying for university entrance increased from 110 000 in
2009 to 172 000 in 2013. The target for 2019 is 250 000.
Initiatives to sustain and accelerate improvements in school performance include the
following:
16• Measures to improve school governance, leadership and accountability, including
competency criteria and management support for principals and district officials, to
ensure that teachers are on time, teaching and cover the whole curriculum
• Investment in school buildings and maintenance, to address backlogs, replace
inappropriate buildings, and meet minimum standards for sanitation and school
facilities
• Support for teacher development and improved training of future teachers, building
on the Funza Lushaka bursary scheme
• Assurance that every learner has access to the required textbooks in every learning
area and grade
• Strengthen the quality of the current provision of Grade R while ensuring that
adequate planning is undertaken to expand provision to pre-Grade R
• Further expansion of early childhood development programmes, driven by the social
development sector, contributing to improved school readiness of 5-6 year-olds
• Implementation of school safety programmes to ensure learner well-being, including
zero-tolerance of bullying and abuse of learners
• To support social cohesion, introducing African languages to schools in a phased
approach.
6.2 A long and healthy life for all South Africans
The estimated average life expectancy of South Africans increased from 51.6 years in 2005
to 61 years in 2012. Advances in public health services have contributed to this progress,
including the following:
• Improved access to primary health care services, measured in terms of visits per
year, which increased from 67 million in 1998 to 128 million in March 2013
• An increase in the number of people receiving anti-retrovirals (ART) in the public
sector, from 47 000 in 2004 to over 2.4 million in 2013
• A decrease in the Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV from 8.5% in 2008 to
2.7% in 2011
• A decrease in the infant and child mortality rates by an average annual rate of 10.3%
between 2006 and 2011
• An increase in the tuberculosis (TB) cure rate from 57.7% in 2006 to 73.8% in 2011,
together with a decrease in the proportion of people defaulting on their TB treatment
from 9% to 6.1%.
Notwithstanding these achievements, there are immense challenges ahead in transforming
the health system. Management and standards of care fall short of expectations in many
health facilities; social determinants of health are not adequately addressed; maternal
mortality remains high; there is a rising burden of non-communicable diseases; and there are
rising cost pressures in both the public and private health sectors. South Africa has a dual
health system, in which expenditure and resources are divided approximately equally
between public services and private health care, but over 80% of the population relies mainly
on public facilities.
17The vision of the NDP is a health system that works for everyone, comprising an appropriate
balance between preventative, health promotion and curative services that are affordable
and accessible to all. The NDP suggests that, by 2030, it is possible for South Africa to:
• Raise life expectancy to at least 70 years
• Ensure that the generation of under-20s is largely free of HIV
• Significantly reduce the burden of disease
• Achieve an infant mortality rate of less than 20 deaths per 1 000 live births, and an
under-5 mortality rate of less than 30 per 1 000.
The strategy for achieving better health outcomes is based on progressively improving the
quality and accessibility of health services through the phasing in of National Health
Insurance. The NHI funding model will give effect to three key principles: universal provision
of quality health care, social solidarity through cross-subsidisation and equity in access
through free health care at the point of delivery. Over the MTSF 2014-2019 period, key
components of this reform path will include:
• Improved quality of health care and reduced waiting times in the public sector,
supported through the newly established Office of Health Standards Compliance and
adherence to a Patients’ Charter
• Expanded and re-engineered primary health care, including municipal Ward-based
Outreach Teams and school health services
• Expanded district-based piloting of NHI services
• Promotion of healthy lifestyles and encouragement of regular screening for non-
communicable diseases
• Reduced health care costs
• Improved human resources for health, revitalisation of nursing colleges and
expanded professional health training
• Investment in health management improvements and leadership, including reform of
the governance, funding and management of central hospitals as national referral
facilities
• Improved health facility planning and accelerated infrastructure delivery
• Strengthened implementation of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis prevention and
management programmes
• Expanded access to sexual and reproductive health by improving the availability of
diverse contraception methods
• Reduced unwanted pregnancies with a special focus on teenage pregnancies
• Implementation of the African Union-inspired Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of
Maternal and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).
Targets for the MTSF period include the following:
• Construction of 213 clinics and community health centres and 43 hospitals, and
refurbishment of over 870 health facilities in 11 NHI pilot districts
• Doubling of the annual training of doctors locally and abroad to 2 000 a year
18• Doubling of the number of people on anti-retrovirals from the present 2.4 million to a
projected 5.1 million
• Intensified TB screening and treatment programmes for vulnerable groups, including
150 000 inmates of correctional services facilities, 500 000 mineworkers and an
estimated 600 000 people living in mining communities
• Vaccination of all girls in Grade 4 against the human papilloma virus, to significantly
reduce their risk of acquiring cervical cancer in future.
Actions by other sectors to address the social determinants of health, such as poverty,
inequality, unemployment and malnutrition, will also contribute significantly towards improved
health outcomes.
The goals for 2019 of these health interventions include raising life expectancy at birth to 63
years, decreasing the under-5 mortality rate from 41 in 2012 to 23 per 1 000 live births;
decreasing the infant mortality rate from 27 in 2012 to 18 per 1000 live births in 2019; and
lowering the maternal mortality rate from 269 to below 100 per 100 000 live births.
6.3 All people in South Africa are and feel safe
South Africa has unacceptably high levels of crime, especially serious and violent crime.
Many people live in fear and feel unsafe, especially vulnerable groups such as women,
children, older persons and persons with disabilities. Crime also impacts negatively on
economic development and undermines people’s well-being and their ability to achieve their
potential.
Some progress has been made over the past five years in reducing serious crime rates. But
weaknesses in forensic, detective, investigation and prosecution services hamper the
government’s efforts to reduce the overall levels of crime, particularly contact crimes.
The NDP vision is to ensure that, by 2030, people living in South Africa feel safe at home, at
school and at work, and enjoy a community life free of fear. Women should be able to walk
freely in the street and children should be able to play safely outside. Businesses should be
able to invest confidently and create jobs without the threat of livelihoods being undermined
by crime.
Key targets for the MTSF include:
• A reduction in the number of reported contact crimes
• An increased proportion of citizens feel safe walking alone, during the day or at night,
as measured in official surveys
• An increase in the proportion of households that are satisfied with police services in
their area, and with the way courts deal with the perpetrators of crime
• Improvements in citizens’ perceptions of levels of crime and progress in reducing
crime, as measured in official surveys
• An improvement in South Africa’s ranking on the Transparency International
Corruption Perception Index.
19Achieving these targets will require reducing levels of contact crime, ensuring an efficient
and effective criminal justice system, ensuring that South Africa’s borders are effectively
defended and secured, tackling cyber-crime, ensuring domestic stability and securing the
identity of all persons in South Africa.
Special attention will be paid to improving capacity in the areas of forensics, crime
investigations, and preventing crimes against women and children, including efforts to meet
competency standards for all trainees in these areas. Government will seek to ensure that
repeat-offending or re-offending is reduced by increasing and improving rehabilitation
programmes for offenders, improving the integration of parolees into communities and
ensuring fewer parolee or probationer violations. Coordinated initiatives to make the criminal
justice system more efficient and effective will continue to be prioritised. SAPS responses to
reported crime incidents will be enhanced by improving reaction times, investigations, pre-
trial processes and case cycle times. South Africa’s borders will be more effectively
defended, protected, secured and well-managed through, among other things, taking
measures to reduce illegal cross-border activities.
The country faces high levels of corruption within the public and private sectors which
undermine the rule of law and impede government’s efforts to achieve its socio-economic
development and service delivery objectives. The targets for 2014-2019 focus on improving
conviction rates for serious corruption cases. Anti-corruption legislation will need to be
revised to provide for more stringent penalties, to protect whistle blowers including those in
the private sector, and to strengthen the independence of anti-corruption agencies to
insulate them from political pressure.
6.4 Decent employment through inclusive growth
Since 1994, the South African economy has grown at the average for middle-income
economies excluding China, after a period of extremely slow growth from 1976 to 1984.
Moreover, since 1994 employment creation has picked up, so that the share of working age
adults with employment stabilised at just over 40% (after falling from the late 1970s through
to 1994). However the global norm is around 60%, and employment growth has not been
strong enough to raise the level of employment significantly from the low levels inherited in
1994.
Investment rose from 13% of GDP in 1994 to around 20% in 2012. While exports climbed
from 15% of GDP to 18%, imports also increased, funded largely by short-run capital inflows
into equity and bonds. The result has been a relatively large trade deficit, especially from the
mid 2000’s.
Despite these gains, the structure of the economy has not changed sufficiently and
appropriately. In addition, the economy continues largely to reflect distorted patterns of
ownership and exclusion shaped by decades of apartheid laws and policies.
The NDP provides a long-term vision through to 2030 towards dealing with the challenges of
unemployment, inequality and creating a more inclusive society. Central to meeting the
vision enshrined in the NDP is the implementation of the New Growth Path (NGP), the
20Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and the National Infrastructure Plan. These short and
medium-term plans provide a more detailed programme of action for the next five years
within the context of the NDP.
Key targets for the MTSF include:
• An increase in the GDP growth rate from 2.5% in 2012 to 5% in 2019
• An increase in the rate of investment to 25% of GDP in 2019
• The share in household income of the poorest 60% of households rising from 5.6% in
2011/12 to 10% in 2019
• A decrease in the official unemployment rate from 25% in the first quarter of 2013 to
14% in 2020.
The MTSF identifies a range of actions to achieve these targets. The actions are aimed at
achieving a step-change in the inclusive economic growth rate to above 5%, much higher
levels of employment creation, and more rapid reduction of inequality. In many cases, this
does not require new policies, but better implementation of our existing ones.
Government will ensure sufficient energy supply for economic growth and address other
infrastructural constraints to growth through the work of the Presidential Infrastructure
Coordinating Commission (PICC) in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the
strategic infrastructure projects.
Government will increase its engagement with business to better understand what is
required to unlock private sector investment and to ensure that the necessary actions are
implemented, to build investor confidence and to build trust between business and
government. Government will also encourage business to make more progress with
implementing employment equity, skills development and broad-based black economic
empowerment. Business will be encouraged to target youth for employment and business
opportunities and to make use of the employment incentive scheme. Government will work
with organised business and labour to stabilise the labour market by addressing the root
causes of workplace conflict in mining and elsewhere through improving the working and
living conditions of workers and improving workplace relationships.
Through the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP), the local procurement drive, and other
programmes government will improve the performance of sectors which are potential major
employment generators, such as mining, agriculture and manufacturing, and promote
minerals beneficiation. Government will continue to implement the New Growth Path to grow
economic sectors with potential for large-scale employment creation, such as the green
economy, exports of goods and services to African markets, and shale and offshore oil and
gas.
Government will continue to vigorously implement its BBBEE policy in order to broaden the
base of black economic empowerment. The new Ministry responsible for small business
development will focus on the changes required to achieve a marked increase in the growth
of the small business sector, as well as to sustain existing small businesses, which must be
one of the largest contributors to job creation. Government will also strengthen its support for
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